I reckon the reason why there are so many bands in Brighton is that like any holiday resort it becomes incredibly depressing over the winter months. Think about it, in the summer there’s loads to do, donkey rides, ice-cream, volleyball, gambling on the mechanical horse racing, getting drunk in the town’s many busy pubs, there must never be a dull moment. In the winter, however the place is completely empty and abandoned, forcing the locals to make a stark decision on how to fill their time, either start smoking Crack in the bus shelters that line the sea-front, or get a few mates together and form an incredible genre-defining band.
“Brighton’s the best in the winter” chuckles Eamon Hamilton, lead singer and guitarist in one of the towns latest and greatest; Brakes. “There are no Londoners and tourists, it’s like our town again, the whole place is a lot less populated.” The place seems to act like Miracle-Grow to almost any music scene, it acts as a breeding ground for literally any thing you could think of, from dance outfits to crazy art-house hardcore bands. “There’s a good healthy amount of bands at the moment” Eamon adds. “I mean a few venues are closing down, but it seems that all the pubs are now putting on bands so it’s a really exciting place.”
Brakes sound like their from Brighton, by not sounding like anyone in particular; with members hailing from other influential acts such as British Sea Power and the Electric Soft Parade, they peddle high-powered, punk tinged indie-rock with a refreshing honesty and sense of purpose. The band is directly inspired by the incredible musical diversity that seems to echo out from every brick of the south-east seaside town they call home, “there’s never been a particular Brighton sound as it were” explains Eamon. “There’s a lot of experimentation in terms of what is possible, which is pretty fun to see, like 15 all girl drumming outfits and what not.”
Forming four years ago, Brakes are currently standing on the parapet of success, ready to storm across no-mans land from underground plaudits to mainstream notoriety. I caught up with the band the afternoon after a typically riotous set at London’s Fabric, home of the hopelessly cool, disco-punk, swept do’s, thin ties, and tight white jeans. “It was like a cool London crowd” Eamon gushes, sounding genuinely thrilled by the bands rapturous reception. “You never really know with those guys, they’re a little bit ‘too cool for school’ but everybody went pretty crazy, which was lush actually, really nice.”
All this current activity is to promote the bands new release. Arriving a mere 12 months after ‘Give Blood’, the band’s critically acclaimed debut, ‘The Beatific Visions’ is an album that has come together so quickly that the Brakes can hardly believe it’s happening. “I think it stems out of just wanting to record” Eamon remarks thoughtfully. “It was brilliant recording it we’d been on tour for ages and when we talked about a new album for October, we were all like ‘shit…yeah, OK?’ we’re all up for a challenge, and we had to kinda’ push ourselves to get it written but we’re really pleased with how it came out.”
The Beatific Visions captures Brakes at full tilt; 28 and a half minutes of furious, politically charged, country tinged, punk rock that sounds like being chased by a huge swarm of angry bees, armed with snarling guitars and piercing voices. The album is so much more than a follow up album offering the same as before, it is a manifesto of the bands intentions for their music, combining their shambolic energy with switched on political ragings, and some very intelligent song writing. “It has some really tender moments as well,” Eamon added after a moments thought. “It has some really regretful, painful stuff, I suppose it has elements of the first record but is a bit of a broader record.”
All this means that the next few months are shaping up to be a pretty hectic period for Brakes, with gigs left, right, and centre in support of their new release. The highlight has to be going on the recent tour with Las Vegas’ finest, The Killers, a band that are definitely at the peak of their powers at the moment. “We’re really pleased about the Killers support” Eamon enthused. “They’re a great band live, they don’t use any backing track, which is really courageous and admirable for a band of their size.” The prospect of playing to thousands of people in some pretty major venues up and down the country would put the fear of god into some people, but Eamon seemed completely unfazed. “It’s nothing we can’t handle,” he laughed. “We’ve gotta get used to playing to these audience for next year when they’ll be ours.”
Even with all this success Brakes are still completely in love with making music. “I don’t really get nervous. I mean I get more nervous playing small home-town gigs in front of twenty mates than a large crowd. For us playing live is a great gig and we’re pretty much happy to play to anyone”. Being in a band has to have its downsides, after all having to watch out for screaming girls every time you try and buy milk has got to get old pretty quickly. “I don’t know” shrugged Eamon after careful consideration. “It’s definitely better than sitting around your flat in your underpants watching Deal or no Deal”.
Hmmmm not to sure about that actually…
Dominic Haley